From Dead Can Dance in early May to the Pixies in late August, the return of live music to Budapest brings with it not only revered names but intriguing ones too. Look out for Slovak DJ FVLCRM, Viennese duo HVOB and New York pair Tempers. Here are our ten top tips!
1/10
Dead Can Dance
Reformed in
2011, the UK-Australian duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry continue to create
their mesmerising soundscapes across the globe, including their current tour of
major concert halls in Europe. Judging by the venues chosen – the Papp László
Budapest Sportaréna on Sunday 8 May, the Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, the National
Palace of Culture in Sofia – cultish Dead Can Dance still attract a significant following from their 4AD days. Ostensibly still
promoting 2018 album Dionysos, the current set also delves into older material.
2/10
FVLCRVM
Stefan
Kralovic, artistically known as FVLCRVM, is
one of the most exciting emerging electronic music producer/DJs, doing a
mini-tour of his Slovak homeland and surrounding countries in May, including
the Turbina Cultural Centre on 18 May. In addition to great music – halfway
between the mainstream and the underground – the party promises a special
audiovisual show, with dancing aplenty.
3/10
HVOB
Sell-out
dates across Europe, in Berlin, Prague and Amsterdam, hint at the huge
popularity of Her Voice
Over Boys, aka Viennese electronic duo HVOB.
Anna Müller and Paul Wallner have visited Budapest several times, each date a
special experience. The sound of the band is brittle, mechanical and warm at
the same time, full of emotion, which creates a magical mix. The
band's fifth studio album, TOO, was released in April, bringing them to the Akvárium
Klub on 20 May.
4/10
Tempers
Formed in
the first half of the 2010s, the New York duo Tempers bring nothing revolutionary
to the table, their music would be familiar to any synthpop follower, especially
of the cooler, darker version. Singer Jasmine Golestaneh and synth partner Eddie
Cooper have so far released three major records, the most recent New Meaning, on
1 April. They perform at the Turbina on 27 May, accompanied by Australian industrial
DJ Kris Baha, who swapped Melbourne for East Berlin.
5/10
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets
The only
member of Pink Floyd to have played on every album, drummer Nick Mason formed
his Saucerful of Secrets band in 2018 to celebrate the classic Floyd era of their first two records. Spandau Ballet’s
Gary Kemp, of all people, sings acid-era touchstones such as Interstellar Overdrive
and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. The date at Budapest Park on 30
May is part of a vast world tour.
6/10
Chrystabell
Chrystabell, aka Chrysta Bell, is the muse of David Lynch, with
whom she has worked several times as both a filmmaker and a musician. The
artist has released four albums since 2010, her fifth titled Midnight
Star in January this year, with a tour now coming our way. Although the
party is a joint production of New Beat and Dürer Kert, the concert will
take place on the A38 on 16 June.
7/10
Crime & the City Solution
Old mates
of Nick Cave and The Birthday Party, these Aussies followed a similar if less celebrated
career path, relocating to London from Oz. Both appeared in Wings
of Desire, the cult Wim Wenders film set in Berlin. At one point, Crime & the
City Solution frontman Simon
Bonney even had great Rowland S Howard on guitar and Mick Harvey on drums. Now Bonney
has got another version of the band together and they’re doing the A38 on 24 June.
8/10
Gary Clark Jr
Multi-instrumentalist
songwriter-vocalist and guitar virtuoso Gary Clark Jr appeared in the early 2000s with artfully crafted elements of blues, soul, R&B,
rock and hip hop. He has released five major albums over the past 20 years –
most recently in 2019, This Land – and has performed at many prestigious
festivals, won a bunch of awards and played with Eric Clapton and the Rolling
Stones. He plays Budapest Park on 12 July.
9/10
Moderat
A trio of comprised of Gernot Bronsert and
Sebastian Szary from Modeselektor, and Sascha Ring from Apparat, Germany’s
electronica supergroup Moderat has a
serious cult following, their tunes like poems put to music. After a four-year
hiatus, Moderat have been active once more, producing their fourth major album,
MORE D4TA, released in May, two months before their concert at Budapest Park on
22 July.
10/10
Pixies
Summer closes on 30 August, with everybody’s
favourites from 30 years ago, the Pixies,
at Budapest Park. This classic era went from 1986 to 1993 and produced four
great records, resumed in 2004 as a touring band, and from 2014 they started
releasing records again, good records at that. The last one was released in
2019, entitled Beneath the Eyrie. Given that this is their first show in
Hungary, expect a few old classics.
